Thomas Gradin

1979 O-Pee-Chee Thomas Gradin #53 value & prices

Thomas Gradin #53 from 1979 1979 O-Pee-Chee is a card collectors search for regularly. Current market value sits near $1.10 for an ungraded copy.

Grading has a major impact on value: an ungraded copy is worth around $1.10, a PSA 9 around $143.88, a PSA 10 (Gem Mint) around $173.00 and a pristine BGS 10 around $225.00. That's roughly a 157× premium for a gem-mint copy over raw — one of the clearest signals that condition-sensitive buyers dominate this card's market.

Compare every grade in the price table above and tap through to active eBay listings. Add Thomas Gradin to your Ripbin locker to watch its value over time.

Collector's notes

Vintage cards from this era were printed long before collectors thought about preservation, so well-centered, sharp-cornered copies are genuinely scarce. That scarcity is what drives the gap between raw and graded prices.

Hockey's collector base is loyal and international, with Upper Deck flagship issues and star rookies driving the market.

Is it worth grading?

With raw copies near $1.10 and top grades reaching $173.00, grading a sharp copy of this card can clearly pay for itself — the spread comfortably covers a typical ~$25.00 grading fee. The catch: only submit copies with strong centering, clean corners, and unmarked surfaces, because anything below a 9 usually erases the math.

PSA remains the most liquid grading label in the hobby, while BGS (with its Black Label 10) and modern entrants CGC and SGC have growing followings — the table above shows how each label prices for this card.

Buying & selling tips

The fastest way to gauge the real market for this card is to scan the live eBay listings above: look at the spread between auction and Buy-It-Now prices, and check sold history before paying top dollar.

Selling? List smart: photograph corners and surface clearly, state the condition honestly, and price against the grade table above. Or scan it into your Ripbin locker and let bids come to you.